A novel effect of sandblasting on titanium surface: static charge generation

Recent advances in biomaterials’ research suggest that electrical charges on a dental implant surface significantly improve its osseointegration to living bone, as a result of selective osteoblast activation and fibroblast inhibition. This study aims at investigating the possibility of using sandblasting to modify the electrical charges on the surface of titanium materials. Our experiments used Al2O3 grits to blast on CP2 titanium plates, for durations between 3 and 30 s. After sandblasting, Ti surfaces were measured for their electrostatic voltage. The results indicate a novel finding, i.e. negative static charges are generated on the titanium surface, which may stimulate osteoblast activity to promote osseointegration around dental implant surface. This finding may at least partially explain the good osseointegration results of sandblasted titanium dental implants, in addition to other known reasons, such as topological changes on the implant’s surface. However, the static charges accumulated on the titanium surface during sandblasting decayed to a lower level with time. It remains a challenging task to seek ways to retain these charges after quantification of desired level of negative charges needed to promote osteoblast activity for osseointegration around dental implants.